Word for the day: "Who risked the most"

Matthew 25:26-30 (MSG) The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest “Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.”As we start another week in the month of August, I felt the need to share a practical truth about our lives here on earth but in the spirit realm. I’m convinced that living my life without risk isn’t much of a life. There’s a certain comfort in living our lives in the safety of predictability. But it’s the kind of comfort you don’t find when you’re moving and growing in your relationship with God. It’s the comfort we find in living our lives in seclusion that can abort our life’s purpose and destiny in God. If you want to experience something you have never experienced, you going to have to risk doing something you never done before.If you’ve followed the Olympics sports recently or been around athletes, you know that an athlete regularly stretches their muscles to the point where they burn. Otherwise these muscles become inflexible, unresponsive, and easily fatigued. The same is true with your soul and in the spirit realm. We must be regularly stretched and God knows just how to stretch us to fulfill His purposes for our lives. Any measure of failure on our part to embrace this stretching and risk process gives you (us) a sense of comfort in the short term, but ultimately leaves you emotionally and spiritually unfit. We probably will live out our lives in mediocrity being unfulfilled, spiritually, emotionally, and practically.Spiritually connecting, loving, and pursuing dreams all require high risk and energy. Yes, you’ll be stretched to the point of discomfort and some pain. Yes, you may experience some hurt and disappointment. But these are far better alternatives than the loneliness, mediocrity, and quiet desperation that accompany a life without risk. It’s time to go for it sisters and brothers, that new church, new job, new business venture, and the new way to handle that relationship that has hindered your life. Today’s message is for youth and young adults, leaders, and leaders in the making, married couples, single people, and those in the midst of career choices.Elder Baker